Anhydrosugar, dianhydrosugars (also known as sugar alcohols) and their derivatives are commercially valuable for a variety of applications including therapeutic uses and use as copolymers to improve properties of polymer materials. Conventional dehydration of sugars to produce anhydrosugars and/or dianhydrosugar alcohols, typically utilizes batch processing with a mineral acid catalyst. However, such conventional production of dianhydrosugars and/or anhydrosugars can be expensive and inefficient. Additionally, conventional processes can be environmentally unfriendly.
It is desirable to develop alternative methods for producing anhydro- and dianhydrosugar alcohols.